Andre Russell's lawyer challenges charges by JADCO

West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell's lawyer Patrick Forster, on Saturday (July 23), disputed the claims made by the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) about the all-rounder allegedly missing three out-of-competition doping tests in the span of 12 months, stating that his client had received correspondence, from JADCO, only on two occasions.


The defense was to the claims made by JADCO in March this year that Russell failure to undergo the tests thrice, resulting in a violation of the whereabouts clause. As per the clause of the offence, it equated to him failing a drug test. According to the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) rules, athletes are required to make their whereabouts known to local anti-doping agencies to facilitate testing under the WADA code.

Forster then insisted JADCO's lawyer to present the third correspondence to his client as mentioned in their claim. The request was agreed upon by Hugh Faulkner, the chairman of the tribunal panel, who then ordered JADCO to do the same. JADCO agreed to share the details by Monday.

While the deadline for Russell's team to present their files is September 7, JADCO will have to do so by August 10, with a hearing set to take place on September 19 and 20. As per the WADA laws, a player faces a ban of up to two years if he is found guilty of missing drug tests thrice in a period of 12 months.